19.00 USD
One of our favorite and most magical subgenres of "Lovely Lady" postcards has to be that of the marvelous maenad. Idealized and presumably toned down versions of those wild maidens of ancient Greece, the maenad, as an image, was practically the poster girl of La Belle Epoque, expressing that rich, earthy, "joie de vivre," which has come to be seen as so representative of the era.
Great Art Nouveau image of stage performer Myriel in classical attire with cymbals. Produced by Leopold Reutlinger of Paris, circa 1905, this image was also used as one in a series specifically representing celebrants of the Bacchanal! In that series, the same card, rather than bearing the title Myriel, was titled Bacchante Aux Cymbales! There was another cymbal image in that series as well, in which a different artiste named Beauregard was posed similarly. Additionally, there was another image of Mlle. Beauregard in which she upended a ewer, presumably filled with wine, titled Bacchante Buvant, which simply means "drinking," and yet another titled Bacchante Au Thyrse, in which the Bacchante (also the artiste Myriel in that one) holds up with reverence the "Thyrse," which beyond its modern botanical meaning, is French for the Greek thyrsus, a staff topped with a pine cone, often decorated with ivy, and carried by Bacchus (Ivy incidentally, was according to the late English poet and historian Robert Graves, one of the key ingredients used in brews by those wild celebrants to drive them to a frenzy. Let's definitely NOT try this at home ;).
Our fourth listing image (NOT for sale!) is a crop of an interestingly surreal and risque French postcard in our personal collection, showing a larger print (also a slightly different crop) of this Reutlinger photograph being used as fanciful decoration in another studio's set piece! What fun, but this also reminds us that some of these Belle Epoque postcard images were not only popular in postcard form, but as "parlor" art prints of the period!
Lovely unposted condition. Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!